For Wednesday, February 26, 2014, here are some media stories of note:

Marc Andreessen, the veteran Internet developer and founder of Netscape, argues in an essay on his blog that the future is immensely bright for news --- as in exponentially larger, due to the ability to reach audiences. But he prescribes significant change: better ads, an aversion by business to free provision of good content, a tier of paid high-end content, philanthropy as support, crowdfunding and bitcoin payments, among others. The result will be a commingled media, one large Twitter stream. He argues some factors hold back the business: bloated cost structures, a focus on objectivity, among others. It won't be easy, he says.***The days of simply grazing among your Facebook friends are over. CNET notes the social media platform is beginning to insert more than advertising into your NewsFeed: posts it feels you might want to consume. If you've Liked a page, chances are Facebook will show you something it tags as a way to widen your view. ***Bob Garfield, the host of NPR's On The Media, writes of the Faustian pact native advertising offers journalism in its existential crisis. He wonders why advertisers, if they're so confident of their brands, feel it necessary to emulate journalism to sell themselves. He also wonders why journalism is taking this short-term return with long-term consequences.

A new Pew Research Center study suggests Facebook is a common but incidental way Americans get news. Its poll found most American adults don't go to Facebook for news, but find news while on Facebook for other purposes. Only 4% said it was the most important way they get news. Still, Facebook appears to provide news to people who otherwise might not get it. Those who receive news on Facebook are highly engaged users and news consumption doesn't appear to displace their other Facebook activities.

Glenn Greenwald, in his first extensive interview since announcing his departure from The Guardian for a new journalism venture financed by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, argues that a revolution is taking place in how news organizations cover government and institutions. Secrets will not be viable if they involve activities that run counter to the consciences of any of the extensive number of people with access to the data. That, in turn, will alter the power dynamic. Journalism will find opportunities in this context. Newsweek, now an online-only organization, reports on his views from Brazil.

The Columbia Journalism Review decided to examine the coverage of surveillance in four major U.S. newspapers (The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times) following recent revelations, and it found a "remarkable" result: The media tilted to the right on the issue. The survey examined the use of certain key words that indicate a pro- or anti-surveillance stance: terrorism and surveillance on the one side, liberty and privacy on the other. While the stance was not overt, it suggests media remain reluctant to appear soft on terror, the Review concludes.

The debate continues on whether journalists need to learn how to write code and whether journalism schools should teach them how. In recent days journalist Olga Khazan sparked the debate by suggesting her time would be better spent learning how to report well instead of code badly. But Meranda Adams, writing for 10000 Words, argues (and uses data-wise journalist and professor Robert Hernandez to support her) that at the very least a modern journalist should know some basics about HTML and CSS or what they're discussing when they pitch the idea of a data project.

New data regulations proposed by the civil liberties committee of the European Parliament are raising concerns by publishers and journalists. The regulations aim to strengthen personal privacy, but they also require that journalists prove to administrators of the regulations there is a legitimate interest in obtaining materials and to gain consent of those mentioned in articles or featured in photos to use the material. The regulations also permit citizens the right to erase material from the Web, a matter bound to engender media opposition. The Columbia Journalism Review notes the regulations now move to member countries to deal with specific wording before a vote is held some time next year.

A new British poll suggests the public is much more optimistic than the craft of journalism is about the future of investigative journalism. The YouGov poll indicates about 29 per cent of the public was not optimistic about the survival of investigative work, while 62 per cent of journalists were. The Guardian reports the findings were released at a London panel on journalism where editors expressed concerns about state power and access to information.

Facebook has reversed its stance for the second time and removed from its network a violent video that featured a beheading. The social network had argued a day earlier that the video should remain because it did not wish to impinge on free expression. Initially when the video surfaced in May it had been taken down. AllThingsDigital reports that Facebook finally decided this wasn't the test case to determine where to draw the line.